REPOSTED FROM CONSTRUCTION TIPS:
I am an engineer very familiar with woodworking and electronics but an absolute newb when it comes to speakers. I am building a simple “internet streaming” radio (something like this: MightyOhm Blog Archive Building a Wifi Radio – Part 10, Building the Box) and was contemplating integrating a pair of speakers. Being an engineer, I took one look at his drivers/enclosure, and thought it would sound pretty bad. I want to be sure that mine has some decent sound for stereo music listening.
Knowing very little about speaker design, I figure I would have two internal enclosures/spaces within my overall designated and sealed for only the speakers.
My questions are as follows:
1. I know I need to have a specific volume for a specific driver, can anyone recommend a decent driver that will still allow for a compact design? As compact as can be would be preferable.
2. How compact should I expect to make the speakers, and still get good sound for all around music?
I am not expecting to have the ultimate audiophile setup, but I would like it to sound at least as good as a nice pair of computer speakers. I am also willing to follow some plans, but I did not find many for compact speakers.
Thanks.
I am an engineer very familiar with woodworking and electronics but an absolute newb when it comes to speakers. I am building a simple “internet streaming” radio (something like this: MightyOhm Blog Archive Building a Wifi Radio – Part 10, Building the Box) and was contemplating integrating a pair of speakers. Being an engineer, I took one look at his drivers/enclosure, and thought it would sound pretty bad. I want to be sure that mine has some decent sound for stereo music listening.
Knowing very little about speaker design, I figure I would have two internal enclosures/spaces within my overall designated and sealed for only the speakers.
My questions are as follows:
1. I know I need to have a specific volume for a specific driver, can anyone recommend a decent driver that will still allow for a compact design? As compact as can be would be preferable.
2. How compact should I expect to make the speakers, and still get good sound for all around music?
I am not expecting to have the ultimate audiophile setup, but I would like it to sound at least as good as a nice pair of computer speakers. I am also willing to follow some plans, but I did not find many for compact speakers.
Thanks.
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Hi,
Using computer speakers or active speakers is not a bad idea.
Gutting computer speakers for the bits can be cheaper.
However : The Madisound Speaker Store
in 2L to 3L with a 4 ohm t -amp would work well with some line level EQ.
rgds, sreten.
Using computer speakers or active speakers is not a bad idea.
Gutting computer speakers for the bits can be cheaper.
However : The Madisound Speaker Store
in 2L to 3L with a 4 ohm t -amp would work well with some line level EQ.
rgds, sreten.
Thanks sreten.
I have been browsing around a little and seen a couple builds that use this driver: HiVi B3S 3"
HiVi B3S 3" Shielded Aluminum Driver Square Frame 297-427
I am still searching for its ideal enclosure volume, but wondered if there was another driver that would perform well with a cavity closer to 1L.
Anything come to mind?
I have been browsing around a little and seen a couple builds that use this driver: HiVi B3S 3"
HiVi B3S 3" Shielded Aluminum Driver Square Frame 297-427
I am still searching for its ideal enclosure volume, but wondered if there was another driver that would perform well with a cavity closer to 1L.
Anything come to mind?
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Here is a design by a Parts Express Tech Talk member. I believe it's right about at the 1 liter mark.
PC pictures by wolf_teeth_speaker - Photobucket
Mike
PC pictures by wolf_teeth_speaker - Photobucket
Mike
Member Wolf_Teeth on DIY Audio is the individual who designed these and can answer any questions. He's EXTREMELY knowledgeable about "speaker stuff." He is also Wolf on the Parts Express Tech Talk (PETT) forum. Great guy and very helpful. I don't know how often he's on this forum, but he's on the PETT forum quite a bit. If you message him, he'll probably answer your questions and maybe have some other ideas.
There are some nice small builds with the Hi Vi 3" driver, but I don't know of any that are in the 1 liter area.
Mike
There are some nice small builds with the Hi Vi 3" driver, but I don't know of any that are in the 1 liter area.
Mike
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so just to make sure my math is correct and I am reading this right....
For those HiVis I mentioned (HiVi B3S 3" Shielded Aluminum Driver Square Frame 297-427)
I just need to get at least 0.04 ft^3 (70 cubic inches) of volume behind them and they should sound good?
So I can put them in a box that is say...4"x5"x5" and be ok?
For those HiVis I mentioned (HiVi B3S 3" Shielded Aluminum Driver Square Frame 297-427)
I just need to get at least 0.04 ft^3 (70 cubic inches) of volume behind them and they should sound good?
So I can put them in a box that is say...4"x5"x5" and be ok?
Best to try and avoid having the same dimention twice, otherwise you will get stronger standing waves at the frequency equal to the distance. 5" being around 2360 Hz..
something like 141 X 108 X 91mm internal which is a ratio of 17:13:11 would probably work well. Though may not match your asthetics
that's 5.55" X 4.25" X 3.58" (with 10% added to your original).
It would be best to use one of the longer dimentions (5.55" or 4.35" for the depth to reduce reflections of the back wave back througn the cone, thogh it may not be an option considering the driver size
Also you need to add the volume that the speaker will displace. as a rule of thumb you can add about 10%.
edit:fixed the dimentions. the spreadsheet had some garbage in it!!
Tony.
something like 141 X 108 X 91mm internal which is a ratio of 17:13:11 would probably work well. Though may not match your asthetics
that's 5.55" X 4.25" X 3.58" (with 10% added to your original).
It would be best to use one of the longer dimentions (5.55" or 4.35" for the depth to reduce reflections of the back wave back througn the cone, thogh it may not be an option considering the driver size
Also you need to add the volume that the speaker will displace. as a rule of thumb you can add about 10%.
edit:fixed the dimentions. the spreadsheet had some garbage in it!!
Tony.
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Hi,
3" drivers need about 2 litres sealed to work best, around 1L is too small,
and there is not point going over 3L sealed,with drivers of around 1L Vas.
The B3S is not as good as the NS3 in the bass.
http://zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker18.html
http://zaphaudio.com/archives.html
rgds, sreten.
3" drivers need about 2 litres sealed to work best, around 1L is too small,
and there is not point going over 3L sealed,with drivers of around 1L Vas.
The B3S is not as good as the NS3 in the bass.
http://zaphaudio.com/audio-speaker18.html
http://zaphaudio.com/archives.html
rgds, sreten.
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A suggestion...
Seek out the very good, and very inexpensive Vifa coaxs from ApexJr. Add a suitable crossover, and build a pair of boxes, BR type. 2 of my simple projects are on the Vifa projects page, the Retro and the "tubes". Both sound better than their simple construction or my abilities might suggest. Their is also a boombox type loudspeaker, and a pair of traditional cabinets from Steve Schenkel.
Please note that I have no affiliation, professional or otherwise with Apex Jr.
And the result? A great sounding compact speaker (the retros or the boxes mentioned above), that should cost you less than $100 a pair that are great on their own, can be used as a desktop speaker system, and can be migrated to a HT system or college room or den.
My suggestion is the construction of a pair or enclosures so that the ability to re-purpose them in the future without further work is a no-brainer.
Seek out the very good, and very inexpensive Vifa coaxs from ApexJr. Add a suitable crossover, and build a pair of boxes, BR type. 2 of my simple projects are on the Vifa projects page, the Retro and the "tubes". Both sound better than their simple construction or my abilities might suggest. Their is also a boombox type loudspeaker, and a pair of traditional cabinets from Steve Schenkel.
Please note that I have no affiliation, professional or otherwise with Apex Jr.
And the result? A great sounding compact speaker (the retros or the boxes mentioned above), that should cost you less than $100 a pair that are great on their own, can be used as a desktop speaker system, and can be migrated to a HT system or college room or den.
My suggestion is the construction of a pair or enclosures so that the ability to re-purpose them in the future without further work is a no-brainer.
Ok, so what about this as the inside cavity dimensions? I drew a circle just to indicate where the driver would be
Its volume runs in at around 2.5 liters....(assuming my math was correct).
I figure I would have two side by side, sharing a divider wall.
If those are internal dimensions, I think you're actually at 186.5 in^3 = 3.05 liters - if sealed, probably not much of an issue.
How about trying to apportion dimensions (for each compartment) on a GR basis? - IOW, .618 x 1 x 1.618
I use a cube root calculator to find the central value based on the net volume, then factor the other 2 from that figure
In the above case, those numbers would work out to 3.55"D x 5.75" W x 9.3"H. - might be a bit shallow, but you get the idea..
So I got two of the B3S drivers.
I typically learn more when I am DOING something and observing the results. So, I decided to play around with different enclosure dimensions. I thought just for the heck of it, I would make a cardboard box (just because it was quick and easy) with internal dimensions of 5",5",5" (I also realize this is bad because it can create standing waves?).
Regardless of my perhaps obvious flaws in this demo, the speaker sounded surprisingly decent, at least to my semi-picky ears. However, I do notice a buzzing-vibration occurring at some points of certain songs. Obviously, I would like to get rid of this buzzing and am looking for some insight.
So, my final build will be
-Use mdf or plywood and I was contemplating using the high-pass filters Zaff mentions: Zaph|AudioZaph|Audio
But, I do not want to have a subwoofer in this system since it is to be more of a self-contained stereo speaker box.
-I will have two of these drivers side by side but would however consider adding a tweeter
-I was also going to line the insides of the speaker box with some sort of dampening material
-I could alter the dimensions so that they were not all the same, if it really helped
Any other thoughts?
I typically learn more when I am DOING something and observing the results. So, I decided to play around with different enclosure dimensions. I thought just for the heck of it, I would make a cardboard box (just because it was quick and easy) with internal dimensions of 5",5",5" (I also realize this is bad because it can create standing waves?).
Regardless of my perhaps obvious flaws in this demo, the speaker sounded surprisingly decent, at least to my semi-picky ears. However, I do notice a buzzing-vibration occurring at some points of certain songs. Obviously, I would like to get rid of this buzzing and am looking for some insight.
So, my final build will be
-Use mdf or plywood and I was contemplating using the high-pass filters Zaff mentions: Zaph|AudioZaph|Audio
But, I do not want to have a subwoofer in this system since it is to be more of a self-contained stereo speaker box.
-I will have two of these drivers side by side but would however consider adding a tweeter
-I was also going to line the insides of the speaker box with some sort of dampening material
-I could alter the dimensions so that they were not all the same, if it really helped
Any other thoughts?
I went down the same road a couple of months ago. Started even with cardboard prototype. The buzzing sounds does probably come from vibrations of the walls, or leakages. Will most likely disappear if you just build the final box rigid enough.
I used the NS3, but I ended up adding tweeters since the dispersion of high frequencies, in my opinion, was pretty bad. I suspect the BS3 has similar high freq dispersion.
I used the NS3, but I ended up adding tweeters since the dispersion of high frequencies, in my opinion, was pretty bad. I suspect the BS3 has similar high freq dispersion.
I see, I suspected that I may want to add a tweeter. I suppose for that kind of build, I will want to have a high-pass filter for the tweeter, and a low-pass for each B3S?
If I am not mistaken, I don't really need to size out a compartment for a tweeter, I can just throw one on there correct?
mrduke,
How can I check for distortion and the dispersion you mention?
If I am not mistaken, I don't really need to size out a compartment for a tweeter, I can just throw one on there correct?
mrduke,
How can I check for distortion and the dispersion you mention?
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